


Let Me Take Care of You

by doctorbuffypotterlock79



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: M/M, Sickfic, manila luzon - Freeform, sutan amrull - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 21:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18214085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorbuffypotterlock79/pseuds/doctorbuffypotterlock79
Summary: Karl takes care of Sutan when he is sick, and learns more about their feelings for each other





	Let Me Take Care of You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic. Any comments, feedback, or constructive criticism are appreciated, but please be kind. I love sick fics and needed some more Rajila in my life, so I wrote this.

Karl was officially worried.

It was now 11:36 and Sutan was supposed to be here over half an hour ago. Karl knew Sutan was always busy, but he had suggested this morning to look at Karl’s outfits for an upcoming show, and Karl just didn’t think it was like him to forget. Nor was it like him to be late. Not to mention that he hadn’t called or even sent a text saying he couldn’t make it, and he hadn’t answered any of Karl’s calls. 

Karl decided to call one last time, pacing frantically as he waited for Sutan to pick up. Nothing. 

_Screw it, I’m going over there_ , Karl thought as he grabbed his keys. He ran his thumb over the key to Sutan’s apartment, which Sutan had given him years ago just in case. 

He made the drive in about 15 minutes, trying to keep the worry out of his mind the whole ride. Maybe he was just hungover. Or hooked up with someone last night. But why wasn’t he answering his phone? Karl forced his mind to focus on the road. He eventually gave up on trying to be calm and full-on sprinted to the apartment door, shoving his just-in-case key into the lock and trying to prepare himself for what he might find. 

The kitchen looked normal, and so did the living room. The apartment seemed way too silent, and for a minute Karl was sure he was going to become the opening scene in a horror movie. 

“Where are you, bitch?” Karl called out. “Did you bail on me, or is this an I’ve-fallen-and-can’t-get-up situation? You are an old man, after all,” Karl smiled to himself, the joke deflecting his real fear that something bad had happened to Sutan. He finally made his way to the bedroom, and the sight that greeted him wiped the smile off his face and made his heart constrict painfully. 

Sutan was curled into a shivering ball in the bed, wrapped in almost every blanket he owned. As Karl got closer, he could hear a rattling in Sutan’s chest, like he was struggling to breathe. The edges of his hair were damp with sweat and even from a foot away Karl could feel the heat coming off him. 

Oh shit. 

Karl scrambled, trying to think of what he should do. _Thermometer_ , he thought. See how sick he is, and then give him Tylenol or something. He ran to Sutan’s bathroom and rifled through drawers and cabinets, finally finding an ear thermometer and a bottle of Tylenol. He grabbed a water bottle from the kitchen and started back to the bedroom. 

“Okay, I can do this,” Karl told himself. He didn’t have much practice with sick people. In the nearly ten years since he’d known Sutan, he couldn’t remember the older man being sick more than a few times, and definitely never this bad. Sutan was usually the one taking care of Karl whenever he was sick or upset about something. 

He approached the bed slowly. “Hey, Sutan,” he said softly. Sutan was still shivering even though his shirt was soaked with sweat. Karl reached out slowly and placed the thermometer in his ear, hoping not to scare him. The older man didn’t even stir, which worried Karl further. After the beep, Karl removed the thermometer and looked at the numbers. 103.2. Fuck. 

“Honey,” Karl said as he gripped Sutan’s shoulder gently, “Do you think you can sit up a little?”

One dark, bloodshot eye cracked open about halfway. 

“Come on, I’ll help you. You need to take some medicine. You’re really sick.” Karl managed to get Sutan into a half-sitting position. He panted for a few seconds after the change in position, and Karl saw the glazed look in his eyes. He probably had no idea where he was or what was happening. 

Karl rubbed circles on Sutan’s trembling back, hoping it would help soothe him. He felt the heat of the fever through the taller man’s shirt. Shit, he’s burning. Karl just prayed the Tylenol would work. Sutan finally turned to look at Karl, squinting like he wasn’t quite sure the person in front of him was Karl, or was even real. 

“K-Karl?” he rasped. “Oh, I hope it’s you. I had dr-dreams about you. You’re so beautiful.”

Karl froze, unsure what to say. He knew Sutan was probably too far in a fever-induced brain fog to know what was going on or what he was saying. He probably wouldn’t even remember this. Still, Karl didn’t want to say anything that would upset him. 

“Yeah, honey, it’s me. I’m here. I really need you to take these pills. Do you think you can do that for me? They’ll make you feel better.” Karl continued rubbing Sutan’s back and brought the pills up to his mouth.

Sutan let out a harsh cough and clutched at his ribs. “A-anything for you, Karl,” he said, taking the pills and waiting obediently for Karl to hold the water bottle to his lips. He drank about half the bottle before pushing it away and dropping back to the mattress. 

Sutan was so vulnerable, so helpless, that Karl could barely stand it. He just wanted to hold the older man and make him better. 

“Get some sleep,” Karl told him. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“I love you, Karl,” Sutan replied sleepily. 

Unable to help himself, Karl dropped a soft kiss to his temple. “I love you too,” he said, unsure if Sutan even heard.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Nearly four hours later, Karl flipped through magazines in a chair by the bed. He had removed some of the blankets to cool Sutan down, and it seemed to be working, as he had slept peacefully. 

He was so adorable while he slept, even though his hair was sweaty and messy and his face was much paler than normal. Karl couldn’t help but marvel at how sweet he looked. 

He dropped his magazine when he saw Sutan beginning to wake. Karl watched as his big brown eyes, a bit clearer than they were previously, went from confused to scared to panicked in a matter of seconds. “Where,” he croaked, struggling to sit up. “What hap-who’s there?” 

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Calm down.” Karl rushed forward, helped him sit up, and rubbed his back again. “It’s just me. Karl.”

Sutan squinted at the shorter man like he wasn’t sure what he saw was real. “Wh-how did you get here?”

“I came over earlier today. You, um, you were supposed to meet me this morning. To look at dresses? You never showed and you weren’t answering my calls, so I got worried and came over here,” Karl explained. 

Sutan’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god, I’m sorry! I made you worry and you came over here for me and wasted your whole day watching me sleep and I’m so sorry and I’m a burden and you must hate me.” Tears welled up in his eyes and Karl felt his heart break. 

He rushed forward to wipe the tears away. “Oh, sweetie, no! I would never, ever hate you! First of all, being sick is not your fault. I don’t blame you and I would never be mad at you. I came here because I care about you. You’re not a burden, and I didn’t waste my day. I had no plans for today. You have nothing to be sorry for. Understand?” 

Sutan coughed deeply and nodded. “I’m sorry.” 

“No more apologies, bitch. I mean it.”

The older man laughed. “Okay.”

“Are you feeling any better?” Karl asked. 

“A lot better, actually. Especially compared to yesterday. I legitimately felt like I was dying.”

Karl winced sympathetically. “How long have you been sick?”

“I didn’t feel well last week but I thought it was just a cold. By Friday I knew it was worse but at that point I was too sick to do anything about it. I think I just slept through Saturday. I had such crazy dreams, oh my god.” He started laughing. “Half the time I didn’t know if I was awake or asleep or if anything was even real. I had this one crazy-ass dream that Bianca Del Rio and Adore Delano went full-on Lady and the Tramp with some spaghetti. I know that wasn’t real.”

The two men burst out laughing. Part of Karl wanted to ask what Sutan had dreamt about him, but he wasn’t sure he remembered saying it and didn’t want to ruin the moment. 

“You should have called me though,” Karl thought of how sick he must have been yesterday. “As soon as you started getting sick, you should have called. I would have taken care of you.” 

“I thought about it. Before Saturday happened and I felt like I had smoked the shadiest joint in existence. But I didn’t want to bother you, and I…I just didn’t want you to see me like this.”

“Honey,” Karl reached over and grabbed Sutan’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the smooth skin. “You know I would never think less of you,” he said softly. “Everyone gets sick. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help and you could never bother me, no matter how sick you are. So just let me take care of you. Please?” Karl pleaded.

“Okay.” 

Karl sprang into action. After successfully taking Sutan from the mess he had been earlier to the mostly-cognizant state he was in now, he felt like a nursing pro. He took his temperature again, relieved to see it had gone down to 101.4. He helped Sutan change into a clean T-shirt, got him to take some more pills, and even coaxed him into eating a piece of toast and drinking some ginger ale. _Nursing pro, indeed _, Karl thought.__

____

____

“Hey, Karl?” Sutan asked suddenly as he picked at his toast, “Did I, um, did I say anything about dreaming of you? I feel like I did but I’m not sure if it was a dream or not.”

Karl bit his lip as he thought of what to say. He didn’t want to embarrass the older man or force him into a conversation he didn’t want to have. But part of him couldn’t deny his own curiosity. Was Sutan only asking because he wanted to be more than friends too and hoped Karl felt the same way? What had Sutan dreamt of? Nor could Karl pretend that the sleepy _I love you_ had no effect on him. Feelings toward Sutan he thought he had gotten over had now returned in full force. He felt bad for doing this to a sick man, but Karl wanted to find out what he had dreamt, if he remembered the _I love you_ , if there was anything deeper behind his dreams and half-conscious words. 

“Yeah, you did. You were pretty out of it, though. I wasn’t sure you’d remember,” Karl replied evenly, trying to keep the hope that maybe they could be more than friends out of his voice. 

“Right.” It could have been the fever, but Sutan’s face suddenly looked redder. “I had so many I don’t think I remember them all. In one of them we owned a bakery! And in another we were dog groomers! But, uh, we were always together. Romantically, I mean. And it was really nice. I kind of started subconsciously hoping I’d have more dreams of us because I liked being a couple.”

Karl laughed upon hearing some of the dreams, then felt a sudden warmth as Sutan finished. “Are you saying you’d like to be a little more than friends?” He asked finally. 

Sutan exhaled deeply. “I’m saying I would like to try. If you want to, I mean.” 

“Oh, I do. I really do. And for the record, I’d groom dogs and run a bakery with you any day of the week, girl.” 

Both men laughed, excited for what awaited them.


End file.
